Quotes

Anyone can face a crisis, its this day-to-day living that wears you out.

Are a few dull moments too much to ask?

At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it's still an illness, and there should be no distinction. (Michelle Obama)

A child's mental health is just as important as their physical health and deserves the same quality of support. No one would feel embarrassed about seeking help for a child if they broke their arm - and we really should be equally ready to support a child coping with emotional difficulties. (Kate Middleton)

Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

I don't suffer from stress, I'm a carrier.

I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

I read that the typical symptoms of stress are over-eating, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That is my idea of a perfect day.

I want my blankie!

I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert.

If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present. (Lao Tzu)

It is an odd paradox that a society, which can now speak openly and unabashedly about topics that were once unspeakable, still remains largely silent when it comes to mental illness. (Glenn Close)

It is the aloneness within us made manifest and it destroys not only connection to others but also the ability to be peacefully alone with oneself. (Andrew Solomon on depression)

It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. (Sally Kempton)

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. (Henry David Thoreau, 1854)

No one would ever say that someone with a broken arm or a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say that or imply that all the time about people with mental illness. (Elyn R. Saks)

Practical guide for successful living: Put your head under the pillow and scream.

Pressure and stress is the common cold of the psyche. (Andrew Denton)

Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it. (Jane Wagner)

Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you weren't sleeping.

Unless you have to rest after taking a shower, you have no idea what tired is. (I have had illnesses that caused tiredness for a while but still can't imagine how it would be to feel like that all the time like those with illnesses like fibromyalga.

We are not victims of the world we see. We are victims of the way we see the world.

We know that mental illness is not something that happens to other people. It touches us all. Why then is mental illness met with so much misunderstanding and fear? (Tipper Gore)

We need so much more openness, transparency and understanding that it's okay to talk about depression as illness. It is not a weakness. It's not a moral shortcoming. It's not something people brought on themselves. (Dr. John F. Greden)

What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation about illnesses that affect not only individuals, but their families as well. (Glenn Close)

When parents say to their kids "Go to your room and think about what you've done", it's really good practice for what you'll do every night as an adult. (Pat Tobin)

Wipe out anxiety before it wipes you out.

You know when you're sitting on a chair and you lean back so you're just on two legs then you lean too far and you almost fall over but at the last second you catch yourself? I feel like that all the time. (Steven Wright)

Handling Stress

Husband: "It's good to see you taking time to read a book. What is it?"
Wife: "A book on how to handle stress. The doctor says I get involved in too many things. This is a terrific book--I know all kinds of people who would benefit from a course on this . . . I bet if I tried I could get a good group together! I'm going over to Connie's. She'll know someone who could give a workshop. We could form a committee . . ."
Husband: "I give up!"

Ways to Reduce Stress

Go to bed on time.

Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.

Say No to projects that don't fit your schedule or that compromise your mental health.

Live within your budget--don't use credit cards if they cause you to overspend.

Have backups--an extra car key in your wallet, a house key buried in the garden, etc.

K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut.) This can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

Do something for the Kid in You everyday.

Get enough exercise.

Eat a balanced diet.

Get organized so everything has its place.

Write thoughts and inspirations down.

Everyday, find time to be alone.

Nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until they become large ones.

Make friends with people who have similar values.

If reading the Bible comforts you keep a list of favorite scriptures.

Laugh at every opportunity.

Take your work seriously, but not yourself.

Develop a forgiving attitude--most people are doing the best they can.

Be kind to unkind people--they probably need it the most.

Talk less; listen more.

Slow down.

Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

Every night, think of one new thing you're grateful for.

Stress Management

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. "In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!"

The Secret to Inner Peace

If the things in the list above don't help you, here is another suggestion. By following the simple advice I read in an article, I have finally found inner peace . . . It read: "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started." So I looked around to see all the things I started and hadn't finished. Today I have finished one small bottle of Grand Marnier, a bottle of red wine, a bottle of Jack Daniel's, my Prozac, a small box of chocolates and a half-gallon of Baskin Robbins rocky road ice cream. You have no idea how good I feel.